Synkroniciti is pleased to welcome back writer Jennifer Maloney from Rochester, New York. Jennifer won our “Wild” poetry contest last winter. “Space” features “Of Goats and Eagles, Frogs and Machines,” exploring the darker side of motherhood. Society teaches us “normal” women want families and motherhood is an easy, natural fit. The truth is that many women don’t have the calling to be a mother. Even if she does, a woman can become overwhelmed by the need to be the wellspring of nurture for her husband and children, an unrealistic expectation foisted upon women across the globe. Sometimes a woman finds herself needing space. “I am twenty-four./ I drag exhaustion behind me/ like a dirty blanket, my only desire/ to curl beneath it like a cat./ But I am a portable milk machine.” It is important that these thoughts be discussed so that women understand that they are neither abhorrent nor aberrant and that men understand that they have roles as nurturers, rather than assuming women will take care of that on their own. Jennifer’s imagery is both dramatic and intimate, her poetry giving voice to those voices we often censor, even from ourselves.
Experience “Of Goats and Eagles, Frogs and Machines” in Synkroniciti’s November 30th issue, “Space,” Vol. 5, No. 4, available for purchase here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/. She will be back with a new poem in our “Family” issue which will debut on March 1, 2024.
Jennifer Maloney writes poetry, short stories, and plays in Rochester, NY. Find her work in Panoply Zine, Ghost City Review, Litro Magazine and several other Journals and anthologies. Jennifer is the co-editor of Moving Images: Poetry Inspired by Film (Before Your Quiet Eyes Publishing, 2021). Jennifer is also a parent, a partner, and a very lucky friend, and she is grateful. For all of it. Every day.
Look for her at Clare Songbirds Publishing House, where you can pick up a copy of her new book, Evidence of Fire.